BANF, a Korean intelligent tire system company, and Silicon Labs announced a tire monitoring system that integrates Silicon Labs’ ultra-low-power Bluetooth® LE SoC, the BG22, into BANF’s in-tire sensor platform. The system processes tire data in real time for autonomous vehicles and connected fleet environments.
For decades, tires have represented an industry “black box.” Traditional Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) provide alerts only when pressure drops significantly, limiting their ability to prevent fuel inefficiency or safety risks at a fundamental level. BANF’s solution converts the tire into a connected system capable of delivering data in real time.
At the center of BANF’s system is the Silicon Labs BG22 Bluetooth LE SoC, designed for low-power operation and RF communication. In the tire environment—where steel belts and thick rubber layers create a near “Faraday cage” effect – the BG22 enables wireless communication.
BANF’s iSensor, mounted inside the tire, measures 3-axis acceleration, pressure, temperature, and tread depth at thousands of samples per second (4 kHz). Instead of transmitting raw data, the system processes and filters it within the tire, extracting signals such as wheel-nut loosening, slip events, or reduced friction before sending alerts to the vehicle. This architecture reduces communication load while improving response time.
To meet automotive-grade security requirements, Silicon Labs’ Secure Vault™ technology is included in the system to protect tire data from tampering or spoofing.
Power delivery has historically been a major challenge for advanced tire sensing. The interior of a tire is exposed to high heat, centrifugal force, and constant mechanical stress. Batteries degrade quickly under such conditions, and wired power connections are impractical.
BANF addresses this through wireless power transfer technology. Its Smart Profiler, mounted on the vehicle’s mudguard or fender, delivers continuous power to the in-tire iSensor using magnetic resonance. This battery-free architecture enables continuous data acquisition and processing.
“Tires generate terabytes of data related to friction, load, and mechanical stress, but until now there was no viable way to capture and transmit that information in real time,” said Adam Sunghan You, CEO of BANF. “By combining Silicon Labs’ BG22 with our wireless power technology, we have unlocked a new level of tire intelligence.”
The system can support autonomous driving and connected fleet operations. In driverless trucks and buses, tire slip or traction loss cannot be detected by human intuition. Real-time tire data processed by BG22 can feed directly into chassis control, stability systems, and autonomous driving algorithms.
“Compute is no longer confined to the CPU—it extends across intelligent peripherals and sensors,” said Ross Sabolcik, Senior Vice President of Product Lines, Silicon Labs. “BG22 enables reliable, secure connectivity even in extreme environments, empowering innovators like BANF to digitize traditionally analog systems.”
BANF plans to use tire data for predictive maintenance, route optimization, and insurance-related services. Through this collaboration, BANF and Silicon Labs are digitizing what has long been considered the “last analog domain” within the vehicle.
Click here to read more about how Silicon Labs and BANF built this battery-free sensor.